Life saving system



0 1942- J. c. CANNADAY EI'AL ,299,793

LIFE SAVING SYSTEM v Filed June 25, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Q &

By 2mm A itorr zey R m V Inventor Oct: 27, 1942- J. c. CANNADAY ETAL 2,299,793

.LIFE SAVING SYSTEM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 25, 1940 Inventor May Vayz'l 72 a Jz'nzmz'e LedbeZler- I Wm A itorney 7 Patented Oct. 27, 1942' James Cleve Cannaday, Virgil Tea'guaand James i Harwood Ledbetter, Providence, Ky.

Application June 25, 1 940, Serial No. 342,403

2 Claims. (Cl. 128-140) 1 Our invention relates to improvements in life saving systems for confined, inaccessible spaces, either above or below ground, and particularly to an arrangement of this character especially adaptedfor use in mines wherein workmen are likely to be trapped by explosions, and other accidents, and subjected to danger through sufio cation, exposure, and asphyxiation, animportant object of our invention is to provide an arrangement of the character indicated involving a\plurality of stations located at selected points in the area of confined space or spaces in which the workmen or otherpersons are to be protected, and having connection with a readily accessible outside central station, whereby communication by telephone can be readily had to and from any one of the stations and the centralstation, and oxygenated air may be supplied to any one or all of the. stations, and electricpower furnished at any'of the stations for operation of selective safety appliances, whereby help may be readily called and the place of the accident may be made known to rescuers, and the workmen confined by: the accident kept in a'helpful condition facilitating rescue in good condition.

Other important objects and advantages of our invention will be apparent from a reading of the following description in connection with the drawings, wherein for purposes of illustrationa preferred embodiment of the invention is shown.

In the drawingsu i t Figure 1 is a general schematic longitudinal vertical sectional view taken through a minebelow the surface of the eartlnand showingtwo of a plurality of safety stations within the mine gallery, and showing the connections thereof with the central station onthe surface of the earth.

Figure 2 is'a front elevational view of a preferred form of a safety station with the door or cover of the cabinet removed to expose the contents of the cabinet.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary front elevational view of the dual electrical outlet arrangement.

Figure 4 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken through Figure 1 approximately on the line 4-4.

Figure 5 is an outer end elevational view of one of the current outlets.

Figure 6 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional view taken through Figure 2 approximately on the line 6-6 showing the construction of a preferred type of breather.

sectional view taken through Figure 5 approximately on the line 1-4.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary elevational View ;of analternative form of breather.

Referring in detail to. the drawings, the numeral 5 generally designates the surface of the earth, in the example given for illustrative purposes, where on ismounted an air compressor 6 driven by a suitable motor 1, the compressor dis- 1 charging into a pressure mixing tank 8 with which is connected a high pressure oxygen tank II, the connection having 'a valve IE! controlling the proper-admixture of oxygen from the tank 9 to the compressed air in the tank 8; The tank 8 has a discharge pipe H having a valve l2 therein,

and this pipe II is connected to the breather mixture conveying pipe I3 which leads down through the earth, through a protective tube or pipe I4 which passes downwardly through a borehole or other entrance into the mine gallery l5 below the surface of the earth and in which the Figure 7 is a fragmentary longitudinal vertical workmen whose safety is to be safeguardemwork. The pipe I3 connects with a manifold pipe V. which is preferably buried or otherwise protectively sunk in the mine floor, IT, with the pipe 13 running along thewall of the cut. The upper part of the pipe l3 has a branch I8 which has a dual electric outlet 19 from which appropriate wires 25J and 2! lead to the mine ofiice or other suitable place where an alarm, may be sounded electrically through connection'with the said wires, in case of'anaccident in the mine, and

the operation of one of the safety stations by the trapped men. Additional breathing mixture pipes 22 may pass down alongside of the pipe i3 and alongside other manifolds l5 buried in the mine floor l1, asmay be required, the pipes 22 .having branches 22" leading into the stations 26. In any case the pairs of wires 20 and 2| respectively, pass downwardly through the tube Hi, these pairs of wires being wrapped in separate conduits 24 and 25, and lead into suitable manifolds 26, buried like the manifolds it below the mine floor I! for protection.

In accordance with the present arrangement. a suitable number and location of individual safety stations 26 mounted on the wall of the cut, will be provided, each to consist preferably of a suitable protective cabinet 21 containing at one side compartments 28 containing the wanted emergency appliances 29 ready for use by the trapped workers in alleviating their condition. A siren or other alarm 35) is mounted in the cabinet 21 as indicated in Figure 2 and provided with a connector cord 3| for plugging into one of the electrical outlets to be described, to facilitate warning workers. Each individual station comprises the vertical pipe 32 which connects with the corresponding manifold is in the mine floor I! and rises into the cabinet where it is provided adjacent the lower end of the cabinet with a tubular cross head 33 each arm of which is in the form of a tube having threaded on its outer end a dielectric block 34, as shown in Figure 7 of the drawings, having blade receiving openings '35 in its end to permit contact by the blades on the plug cord 3! with corresponding contacts 31 to which the corresponding pair of the wires 20, 2| are connected. Each of the arms is equipped as described and the arrangement enables operation of the siren or other electrical alarm device 30 with one or both arms arranged for telephonic communication by plugging in a hand phone into the proper one of the receptacles 34.

The tube 32 extends above the electrical outlet arrangement 33 and has on its upper end a cruciform fitting 33 whose arm 39 has therein a valve 40 and a number of safety mask tube outlets M to which the tubes of the safety masks may be readily connected. The remaining arm 42 of the fitting 38 is also provided with a valve 43 for connection of a breathing device or the like, either this device or the several masks connected to the outlets 4| being fed by oxygenated air coming through the tube 32 from the manifold, the manifold being, in turn, supplied by the surface equipment. A vertical arm 44 on the said fitting has a valve 45 which controls discharge of oxygenated air through the breather 46 which may preferably be in a spherical segmental form illustrated in Figure 6 and hollow and provided with a sufiicient number of perforations 41 to discharge the oxygenated air for immediate breathing purposes or to improve the air in a confined space.

A compartment in one lower corner of the cabinet 21 has therein rescue equipment generally designated by the numeral 41.

Another form of breather is shown in Figure 8 and designated by the number 45a has an elongated generally cylindrical form 48 with which the upper end of the vertical arm 44 connects.

It will be obvious that the compressor 6, applying sufficient compression to the oxygenated air mixture, forces this life giving mixture down through the pipe I3 and into the corresponding manifold within the mine, so that when the appropriate one of the valve 43, 40 or 45 is opened, the miners or other Workers will be enabled to rest or work in safe atmospheric conditions. It is also obvious that the workmen designated to operate the individual safety devices will, upon discovery of an accident, immediately get into telephonic communication wtih the mine house or other center, and thereby enable the trapped miners or the like to converse with potential rescue crews on the surface of the earth, so that the rescue may be efficiently performed.

Although we have shown and described herein preferred embodiments of our invention, it is to be definitely understood that we do not desire to limit the application of our invention to the precise structural and functional details set forth herein, except as may be required by the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A safety system for the protection of workmen working in a subterranean passage, said system comprising a bore hole leading from the surface of the earth or other convenient remote place into said passage, a protective casing passing through said bore hole to said passage, a plurality of safety stations distributed along said passage, each station comprising a cabinet mounted on the wall of the passage, a buried manifold pipe extending along said passage and having outlets leading into the various safety stations, said protective casing enclosing a supply pipe having its lower end connected in communication with said manifold, combined telephone and electric supply wires passing through said outlets and through said protective manifold and through said supply pipe to the surface of the earth, each cabinet containing a telephone and electrically operated rescue facilitating means, connector means on said outlets within the cabinets enabling electrically connecting the telephones and the rescue facilitating means to said telephone and electrical supply wires, each cabinet further containing respirator means, connecting means for connecting said respirator means in communication with a portion of the manifold outlet within the cabinet, and a main station located on the surface of the earth or said other convenient remote place, a respiration facilitating gas supply connected in communication with the upper end of said supply pipe, said main station further comprising telephone means and a source of electrical energy electrically connected to said combined telephone and electric supply wires.

2. A safety system in accordance with claim 1 wherein the said outlets of the manifold have resuscitating gas dispensing means within the cabinets for dispensing the gas into the atmosphere within the passage, said outlets further having individual adapters for the connection of gas masks for individual workers.

J. CLEVE CANNADAY. VIRGIL TEAGUE. JIMMIE LEDBETTER. 

